Top Essays USB Drive

This USB drive contains 100 of the top This I Believe audio broadcasts of the last ten years, plus some favorites from Edward R. Murrow's radio series of the 1950s. It's perfect for personal or classroom use! Click here to learn more.

I believe that people don’t appreciate what they have, and in one moment of life everything can disappear. So we have to work even harder and even better so that things will not disappear from us. Never give up fight until the last moment.

My older brother called Alexis is 26 years old. He is a nice guy with a lovely girlfriend, he has his own house where he lives with his dog Murdock, he is the boss of his restaurant, he is from a good family, he has never done anything wrong.

It all happened one Tuesday afternoon when I came home from playing football and my Dad told me my brother was in hospital with my mum because he was very sick. He had been feeling sick days before but we thought it was a virus that had been going round. Next morning I woke up to go school and my dad wasn’t in bed. So I phoned him and he told me he was about to arrive home. I was having my usual breakfast when my father came through the door. I asked, “Dad where have you been?’’ My father looked pale. Then he told me that he had gone to see my brother at the hospital. I asked, “Is he all right?” My father looked at me and said to me that my brother had the same that thing my cousin got seven years ago. Leukaemia. When that word entered my head, I thought “why?” Why has this happened to my brother? I couldn’t understand how it could be happening. I was terrified. In the afternoon I went to see him at the hospital, I had to put on a mask and disinfect my self in order to be able to see him and so I did. I entered the room and there was my brother, connected to a machine that was changing his blood. He has the worst blood you can imagine. But there was my brother with a big smile on his face just like nothing had happened. He shouted, “What’s up dude?” I answered back with a smile. The only thing my brother said to me was, “If you don’t treat my dog well, when I come out of here I’ll kill you!” I’ve made a promise to myself. I will treat the dog as it was my brother. Now after getting through the first session of chemotherapy, my brother continues with the same smile and strength as he when he entered the hospital on the first day. His strength makes my family united and we know we are going to get over this bump of life very fast.

So my belief is to tell you: never give up! Even in the most extreme cases, never give up, continue fighting until you achieve what you set out to.

Essay of the Week

When she was young, Lauren LeBlanc had grand dreams of living in New York and singing on Broadway. Instead, she became a mom and schoolteacher in suburbia. While it’s not the life she once imagined, LeBlanc now knows she wouldn’t have it any other way. Click here to read her essay.